Skills

Skills determine your proficiency at everything you can do in Skyrim. Unlike previous Elder Scrolls games, where classes determined what skills needed improvement in order to gain levels, the addition of Perks deepens the specialization in these skills.

Remember that this game is very flexible should you consider changing play styles mid-game. You won't need to start a new character; all you have to do is continue to use whatever is necessary to improve the skill in order to get better!

With the addition of Legendary Skills, when one of your skills reaches level 100, you can make it legendary. The skill returns to level 15 and all the Perk Points you've spent in it's tree are refunded. Then you can evolve it again. But note that Legendary Skills have no advantage when against non-legendary skills. With the addition of legendary skills in the patch 1.9 the max level for your character was lifted and you can evolve indefinetly...

While the age-old saying of "Practice makes perfect" certainly holds true in Skyrim, there are other ways to develop your Skills without having to go through repetitive motions (sans exploits and cheats). You can read Skill Books or find Trainers that specialize in certain skills. Either of these options can precipitate your desired skill to 100. Also, take note that trainers can only train you five times per level. To train from them again, you must increase your level. This limit applies to other trainers as well; so if you trained twice for your current level, other trainers can only train you three more times until you level up.

Some followers can also train you. (Faeldan, Aela, Farkas, Vilkas, etc. are good examples). The good thing about them is that you can get your invested money back by going through their inventory, which practically enabled you to get free training.

An alternative to these is to beat up your horse. If you have the horseShadowmere, which is obtained by progressing through the Dark Brotherhood questline, you can constantly attack him for basically unlimited XP. Shadowmere is virtually invincible to melee, magic, and ranged damage. The only thing you have to worry about is jumping off of mountains

Archery - This skill determines your proficiency with the bow and arrow. If used with the right poisons, this weapon can help give you the upper hand when it comes to facing off against multiple opponents.

Block - This skill determines how well you can use the shield to fend off against oncoming attacks.

Heavy Armor - This skill determines how well you can function in combat while wearing Heavy Armor. You can eventually unlock a perk that negates the armor's weight when you wear it